http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/spending/ en-us Mon, 6 Oct 2008 15:11:35 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2098665/posts LANSING- Lt. Governor John D. Cherry, Jr. today announced that 41 Michigan elementary and middle schools in 10 counties will receive more than $8.7 million in federal "Safe Routes to School" funding. The schools will implement safety improvements and education programs aimed at encouraging healthy lifestyles and improve opportunities for students to travel safely between home and school. Eight of the cities with schools receiving the grants are Cities of Promise. The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) and the Michigan Fitness Foundation reviewed the grant applications. The schools receiving funding will implement education and encouragement programs during the 2008-09 school... State of Michigan Website http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2098665/posts#comment Mon, 6 Oct 2008 15:11:35 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2093649/posts DEMAND an end to any and all deficit spending Published by Sheridan Folger on Sep 27, 2008 Category: Politics Region: United States of America Target: Washington D.C. Web site: http://letsgetthisright.com Description/History: As President Ronald Reagan once said "You and I are told we must choose between a left, or right, but I suggest there is no such thing as a left or right. There is only an up or down." We at "Let's Get this Right" agree with that statement and we recognize that the US economy is in enormous trouble. This includes Wall Street, the US Government, and every... Lets Get This Right.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2093649/posts#comment Tue, 30 Sep 2008 03:04:10 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2092662/posts I've been watching the news the last few days. It seems that every time this is discussed somebody mentions that it could impede our governments ability to borrow. Could this be the REAL reason why they're working so hard to pass this bill? Has the United States been essentially blackmailed by foreign investors who have told us that without this the United States itself is not going to be credit worthy? That would explain why Democrats are for it. If borrowing is curtailed, then cuts in government spending, real cuts, must be made and that threatens liberal social programs. How... Here http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2092662/posts#comment Sun, 28 Sep 2008 22:53:20 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2090303/posts Republicans and Big Government Spending http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSITu4pbfeM&feature=PlayList&p=5B0402C8953DDCEA&index=2 You Tube http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2090303/posts#comment Thu, 25 Sep 2008 16:55:38 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2089863/posts When it comes to fiscal conservatism, George W. Bush failed us. He has angered fiscal conservatives in both parties. I don't spend much time defending Bush's fiscal record because there's really very little worth defending.   But Bush's failure wasn't because he cut taxes. Bush failed because he failed to cut spending.   P.J. O'Rourke defined fiscal conservatism as follows: "To a true fiscal conservative, tax cuts don't matter much, and neither does the national debt. That is because the real problem is spending. Even the best and most necessary public spending comes with a harrowing price: the percentage of... ModernConservative.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2089863/posts#comment Thu, 25 Sep 2008 02:12:34 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2087048/posts I recently chatted with Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) about the gigantic financial bailout that the government is preparing to undertake. Some excerpts from the interview: What's your take on this huge financial bailout? "It's more of the same. More debt and more inflation and more pressure on the dollar. Ultimately, although the markets are responding very favorably at the moment, I think it is going to be devastating to the dollar and to our financial situation in this country." But don't we need to get these toxic assets off banks' balance sheets? "Sure, they need to be removed. Somebody needs... http://www.usnews.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2087048/posts#comment Sun, 21 Sep 2008 14:00:38 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2081931/posts Michigan (Detroit Free Press) - The music starts. The hazy images appear. A pond. A sunrise. A porch. A windmill. A sailboat. Then the wistful voice begins: "Twenty-five thousand mornings, give or take, is all we humans get." This TV ad has been playing all summer in select cities across the Midwest, enticing visitors from Chicago, St. Louis, Cleveland and Detroit to vacation in "Pure Michigan." The $17.5-million campaign - all heart and naked emotion - is designed to appeal to our secret longing for simplicity, thus drawing big bucks and new tourists. Starting next month, the state will spend... WZZM13 Website http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2081931/posts#comment Sun, 14 Sep 2008 02:26:57 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2080349/posts An Obama ad plays fast and loose with McCain's voting record on education and proposals as a presidential candidate. Summary A new Obama-Biden ad includes misleading claims about McCain and education spending: It says McCain "voted to cut education funding" and lists five votes. But one was a vote for increased education funding, although for fewer dollars than what Democrats may have wanted. And three others were votes against additional funding, not votes for funding cuts.  The ad says that "McCain's economic plan gives $200 billion more to special interests while taking money away from public schools." Not exactly. McCain... FactCheck http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2080349/posts#comment Thu, 11 Sep 2008 22:53:59 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2079952/posts The national average income as of 2007 was, according to a census.gov PDF, $50,233 (see page 14). A dinkytown.net tool puts this at approximately $5762 in federal income tax for a single, male, head of the household. Note that this is just your income tax. No sales taxes or any other type of tax is included here. Additionally, this does not include state, county, or municipal tax, so you most likely pay much more (Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington state, and Wyoming are the only states that don’t have a state income tax, so chances... All American Blogger http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2079952/posts#comment Thu, 11 Sep 2008 14:40:21 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2079059/posts Here's a prediction: The media will report today that the federal budget deficit is big and getting bigger. What most of them won't report, alas, is that the cause of these deficits is an explosion in federal spending. The era of big government is back, bigger than ever. [The Spending Explosion] The real news in yesterday's Congressional Budget Office semiannual report is that federal expenditures on everything from roads to homeland security to health care will on present trends reach 21.5% of GDP next year. That's a larger share of national output than at anytime since 1992. If the cost... The Wall Street Journal http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2079059/posts#comment Wed, 10 Sep 2008 14:39:52 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2078326/posts "NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The budget deficit will jump by $246 billion to $407 billion this year, the Congressional Budget Office estimates in a report released Tuesday." "Over the long run, growing budget deficits and the resulting increases in federal debt would lead to slower economic growth," the agency said. Last year, the budget deficit was $161 billion. The government's fiscal year ends Sept. 30. The agency attributes the jump to "a substantial increase in spending and a halt in the growth of tax revenues."" CNN http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2078326/posts#comment Tue, 9 Sep 2008 19:01:37 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2076911/posts Do you get the impression Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has reached a level of flippant frustration in his efforts to “fix Kaleefornya?” The latest budget impasse may be the final, insulting reality that blew away any illusion he had that the nation's most populous state - and one of the world's largest economies - can be rationally governed. His recent executive order to reduce state employees' pay to the federal minimum wage level, and to lay off thousands of part-time state employees, might be an expression of peevish exasperation, but it does strike at the heart of California's chronic budget problem,... Santa Maria Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2076911/posts#comment Sun, 7 Sep 2008 22:27:51 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2073003/posts [C]onsumer credit became so pervasive that paying cash became passé. Want a new $32,530 Dodge Ram Crew pickup? Take a lease. Sick of your old house? Get a 100 percent mortgage and trade up. Face lift? Round-the-world cruise? New PC? Three-hundred dollar sushi dinner at Nobu? Whip out that plastic. It was this behavior—the endless willingness of lenders to lend and borrowers to borrow—that kept the consumer economy humming uninterrupted from the early 1990s, straight through the brief recession of 2001, until the credit meltdown of 2007. But many of the lenders who extended credit recklessly are now acting like... Slate http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2073003/posts#comment Tue, 2 Sep 2008 15:12:14 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2069915/posts Barack Obama's tax advisers recently posted a piece in the Wall Street Journal about their candidate's tax plans. Their article was designed to triangulate, painting their candidate as a tax cutter and the Republican opposition as a secret tax raiser. It was well written and well argued — not that you can really trust anything you read about what candidates will or will not do once in office. In any case, I was discussing the piece with a person whose politics are certainly left of center. She said to me something along the following lines: I'm really not sure I... Ludwig von Mises Institute http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2069915/posts#comment Thu, 28 Aug 2008 16:54:25 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2069418/posts It better be good. The GOP has a lot of making up to do and it NEEDS to present a strong conservative message especially in the areas of limited government and drilling. And McCain had better pick a good VP. I don't know what emotion I'd call it, but I'm definitely ready to watch this convention. http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2069418/posts#comment Wed, 27 Aug 2008 23:19:37 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2068381/posts Democrats convened in Denver on Monday with the economy's woes muscling to the top of political concerns, as reflected in further drops in stocks and housing prices. The Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 241.81 points, or 2.1%, to 11386.25, amid continuing worry over the economic and credit problems. Inventories of unsold homes rose to a record, while prices continued to slip, threatening to delay the housing market's recovery. Sen. Barack Obama, whom the party will nominate for president this week, addressed one of the key issues, the parlous state of the government-sponsored buyers of mortgages. "I don't think we can... Wall Street Journal http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2068381/posts#comment Tue, 26 Aug 2008 16:35:55 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2065747/posts Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) has been given an evening speaking slot at the Republican National Convention and will focus his remarks on wasteful government spending and earmarks, his office said Thursday. Coburn, who, like GOP presidential candidate Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), is a vocal opponent of pork barrel spending, will address the convention on Tuesday night. Giving the Oklahoma senator a coveted evening slot will highlight McCain’s commitment to curbing wasteful spending and is seen as a nod to fiscal conservative voters fed up with the deficit spending that occurred during Republican control of Congress and continues under the Democratic... The Hill http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2065747/posts#comment Thu, 21 Aug 2008 21:21:23 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2065715/posts Professor Hubbard explains that Obama's claim that he will increase the payroll tax by only 4% cannot be correct. This amount will not generate the revenue necessary to maintain even current levels of entitlement spending: "The new payroll tax hike is more modest than the one Mr. Obama hinted at last fall, which might have uncapped the payroll tax entirely. But it would also do very little to shore up Social Security, since it means that no more than 15% of Social Security's long-term funding gap would be closed. Thus, if Mr. Obama is indeed opposed to reductions in Social... The Wall Street Journal http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2065715/posts#comment Thu, 21 Aug 2008 20:34:54 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2065583/posts 'If I were designing a system from scratch, I would probably go ahead with a single-payer system," Barack Obama told an audience in Albuquerque on Monday. He was lauding the idea of a health-care market -- or nonmarket -- entirely run by the government. Most liberals support single payer, aka "Medicare for All," because it would eliminate the profit motive, which by their lights is the reason Americans are uninsured. The Democratic Presidential candidate takes a more moderate campaign line, though we suppose just about everything is "moderate" compared to a total government takeover. While preferring that option in theory,... Wall Street Journal http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2065583/posts#comment Thu, 21 Aug 2008 16:31:18 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2065037/posts If "An Inconvenient Truth" sounded the alarm on global warming, "I.O.U.S.A.," a new documentary opening in theaters Friday, hopes to do the same for the rising federal deficit. Backed by Blackstone Group Chairman Peter Peterson, "I.O.U.S.A." follows former U.S. Comptroller General David Walker and the Concord Coalition's Robert Bixby on a "fiscal wake-up tour" across America. In the movie, which is co-written by "Empire of Debt" co-author Addison Wiggin and directed by "Wordplay" filmmaker Patrick Creadon, Messrs. Walker and Bixby argue that unless the government alters its policies and spending habits, the U.S. will be in for a serious financial... Wall Street Journal http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2065037/posts#comment Wed, 20 Aug 2008 18:24:35 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2062018/posts Money is a crucial command post of any economy, and therefore of any society. Society rests upon a network of voluntary exchanges, also known as the "free-market economy"; these exchanges imply a division of labor in society, in which producers of eggs, nails, horses, lumber, and immaterial services such as teaching, medical care, and concerts, exchange their goods for the goods of others. At each step of the way, every participant in exchange benefits immeasurably, for if everyone were forced to be self-sufficient, those few who managed to survive would be reduced to a pitiful standard of living. Direct exchange... Ludwig von Mises Institute http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2062018/posts#comment Thu, 14 Aug 2008 22:01:41 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2061196/posts WASHINGTON -- The U.S. government's budget deficit nearly tripled in July from a year earlier, pushed in part by aftershocks from failed financial institutions. The Treasury Department on Tuesday said the government ran a monthly deficit of $102.77 billion in July, up 182% from $36.45 billion in July 2007. Outlays were $263.26 billion last month, up 27% from July 2007's $206.89 billion. Spending rose on a $15 billion disbursement by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to cover deposits at failed financial institutions. Calendar shifts also contributed to the figures, causing the July 2007 figure to be lower by $19 billion.... Wall Street Journal http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2061196/posts#comment Wed, 13 Aug 2008 16:16:03 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2060054/posts It's the spending, stupid! When was the last time you heard Senator Obama or Senator McCain give a speech on the bloated public sector? Did Senator Clinton, in her recently concluded presidential bid, ever scold voters who constantly want the government to "give" them more and more services? These are rhetorical questions. Today our ruling parties tacitly agree that no government department can be eliminated, that major spending reductions are forbidden and that the spending spree must continue. Indeed, Democrats say little or nothing in the federal budget can be cut. The government must expand its responsibilities. It must provide... Lugwig von Mises Institute http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2060054/posts#comment Mon, 11 Aug 2008 18:29:13 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2058894/posts In response to the housing crisis, the American Housing Rescue and Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2008 (H.R. 3221) passed in the House (272-152) on July 23 and in the Senate (72-13) on July 26. This legislation added another new agency to the goliath federal bureaucracy, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), to oversee and regulate three Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs): Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Federal Home Loan Bank System. The new FHFA is required to consult the Federal Reserve before issuing any regulations, orders, or guidelines concerning GSEs through 2009. Thus the Federal Reserve’s power has been enhanced... The New American http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2058894/posts#comment Sat, 9 Aug 2008 03:04:21 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2057474/posts Congress enacted the tax rebate program earlier this year because it perceived a growing risk of recession. In addition, it feared monetary policy alone would not be effective because of the dysfunctional credit markets. As American taxpayers know, most of the rebate checks have now been mailed and cashed. Those of us who supported this fiscal package reasoned that the program would boost consumer confidence as well as available cash. We hoped the combination would cause households to spend a substantial fraction of the rebate dollars, leading to more production and employment. An optimistic and influential study by economists at... Wall Street Journal http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2057474/posts#comment Wed, 6 Aug 2008 16:39:34 GMT